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| Chaim Halpern |
(Scroll down for video) A man who is linked to the Chaim Halpern sexual abuse case was scheduled to stand trial this summer, according to court proceedings in the United Kingdom.
The man accused of harassment in connection with the police investigations of the Temple Fortune rabbi will be judged in July, the judge in the case has ruled.
Samuel Erlanger, 37, appears in Willesden Magistrates The court trial was set for July 11 as part of ongoing investigation into ultra-Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Chaim Halpern, 54, leader of Divrei Chaim Synagogue in Bridge Lane, Temple Fortune.
Erlanger, of Powis Gardens, Golders Green, denied a charge of harassment without violence at the Hendon Magistrates Court on Thursday.
He was arrested in January on suspicion of harassment via telephone following incidents that took place between December 25 last year and January 23 this year.
Another man, Shlomo Feldman, 28, of Lynmouth Road, Stamford Hill, faces three counts of harassment without violence in connection with the investigation into Rabbi Halpern and appeared at the Hendon Magistrates Court on May 15.
“The ultra-Orthodox Jewish community must do more to fight sexual abuse of all kinds. It is despicable that a rabbi, who is accused of raping many women and girls, is allowed to remain the leader of a synagogue. What is wrong with these people?” Norman Fisher, 18, of Manchester, England told YourJewishNews.com after learning about the trial date.
Rabbi Halpern was arrested and questioned in February on suspicion of sexual assault and obstruction of justice. He is due to return to police in July.